ASME: Is Good Cover Design Dead?

In keeping with the magazine industry’s longtime love affair with lists (“Top 5 Things Magazines Love: Lists, Sex Advice, iPods, Eva Longoria, and… Surprises!”), the American Society of Magazine Editors has announced their Top 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years.

Making the list are some predictable choices: Saul Steinberg’s “View of the World from 9th Avenue,” in The New Yorker; George Lois’ Andy Warhol drowning in Campbell’s soup for Esquire, and… surprises!

But less well-publicized was ASME’s Worst 40 Magazine Covers of the Last 40 Years. Twenty of the selected covers were of the cast of Desperate Housewives in various configurations. The remaining 20 are listed below: